


Slipped Time

by zzoaozz



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Ending, F/M, Modern Era, Post Series, a few scattered words of Japanese, brief mention of other characters secondary to the main plot, memories of major character death, significant change in personality due to passage of time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-27
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2017-12-27 18:16:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/982083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zzoaozz/pseuds/zzoaozz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the end, Kagome joined the Shikon No Tama and was granted one wish with its immense power.  Because her love was pure and selfless, she made her wish and gave up everything and everyone she loved.   In the present day, she grew up and tried to move on with her life, but she knew that she had left the best part of herself five hundred years in the past.  Then one day she ran quite literally into the last person she ever expected to see again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unexpected Meetings and Glory Days

**Author's Note:**

> You probably know these if you are reading an InuYasha fic, but just in case
> 
> hai means yes  
> youkai is a demon or a nonhuman creature formed from the spirit of nature or the elements  
> miko is a priestess   
> taiyoukai is a greater demon  
> -sama at the end of a name is a title of respect similar to lord

Kagome rushed through the crowded sidewalks cursing silently. She was going to miss the bus no matter how fast she ran. She closed her eyes in frustration and that proved to be her undoing. She crashed headlong into another pedestrian knocking both of them to the ground. She looked up to apologize and felt the breath freeze in her lungs. Amber eyes were looking up at her with barely disguised shock. 

"S…Sess…Sesshoumaru?”

The stripes on his face were gone and his long silver hair covered his ears, he was wearing dark slacks and a crisp, white shirt under a dark jacket instead of his white kimono and fur wrap. Even in modern clothes, there was no mistaking his beautiful, almost feminine face, the golden eyes, the thin lips, and the arrogant set of his shoulders and head. 

"You are Inuyasha’s girl?”

She felt every ounce of the rage and betrayal that she had felt since joining the Shikon No Tama and being thrust unceremoniously back into her own time. She exploded. “I am not Inuyasha’s girl! The name is Kagome! Ka-go-me! Is that so hard for everyone to understand?”

To her complete amazement, Sesshoumaru laughed. She stared at the regal youkai lord as he picked himself up from the sidewalk still chuckling at her. When he held his hand out to help her up, she took it unthinkingly. Only after he lifted her to her feet did she recall that he was definitely one of the most dangerous creatures she had ever met. She stared at the hand that held hers and noticed something strange. He had regular fingernails, neat, clean, short fingernails.

"Where are your claws and your stripes?”

"That’s a long story.” He looked at her contemplatively for a moment. “Are you on your way somewhere?”

"I was going to catch a bus to the festival, but I've already missed it.”

"Come, I’ll take you there and we can talk.”

She looked up at him doubtfully. 

"I won’t hurt you.”

She thought about a few seconds then shrugged, “Okay.”

He led her across the street to his car and held the door for her. It was an expensive looking vehicle a sleek, silver sports car that she was certain must be imported. She slipped into the cool leather seat and buckled herself in. She could not keep herself from staring at Sesshoumaru as he slipped behind the wheel and eased it out into traffic.

His eyes flicked in her direction. “How is it that you are alive in this time? I thought at first you were a reincarnation or a relative until I caught your scent.”

She was confused for a moment then it hit her. He had no idea that she had traveled through the well to reach the feudal age. She explained it to him as briefly as possible then added that after the final battle she had been pulled back through time and the well had ceased working. He listened attentively but seemed to take her at her word. By the time she finished her story, he was easing into an empty spot not far from the fairgrounds. 

"Oh, that’s not fair. I told you what I’m doing here, but I didn't get to hear your story!”

He tilted his head to the side and looked at her. Something fluttered in her chest. It was the exact same look he had given her when she had helped Rin and then thanked him for sparing Kohaku. She missed that other time and her friends and their adventures. She felt the threatening sting of tears.

"If my company does not distress you overmuch, I will join you and we can continue our conversation.” 

"I’d like that. Meeting up with you is the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time.” She realized how that sounded and blushed before stammering out an explanation. “What I meant is that it’s like old times only you aren't trying to kill me, you’re being nice. Oh! That didn't come out right at all.”

"I think I understand.”

"You do?” She looked at him gratefully as he held the door open for her.

"Hai, I do.” 

He paid for their admission and waved away her protests. “Believe me, I won’t miss it.”

They walked through the park and found an empty bench in the shade of a ginkgo tree. Sesshoumaru stared up through the branches for a long while. She took the opportunity to study him. She still had her miko abilities as unpredictable as they were so she could feel his powerful youkai aura vibrating the air around them. He was far stronger than she remembered. He looked the same physically except for his missing markings. He was still tall, slender, and muscular. His left arm had regrown before the final battle when he had learned that he was stronger than his father, that he had his own weapon. She could not resist reaching over and touching his wrist lightly to make sure it was not an illusion.

He looked down at the feel of her touch. “I think it has been over a century since someone touched me without permission.” 

Her eyes widened as she realized the meaning behind that simple statement. “You've been alive all this time. You actually lived through the five hundred years between now and then.” Her voice was low and filled with a strange mix of horror and sympathy as she reasoned further. “You must have watched everyone you cared about grow old and…” She trailed off unable to finish.

"Everyone I cared about? You mean Rin.” There was undisguised grief in his eyes as returned her gaze. “Yes, I watched Rin grow from a child to a woman. I watched her fall in love and marry. She had many children and they all called me uncle. I still watch over and visit with her descendants and I am still 'Uncle' to them. I suppose I am the family demon.” He smiled at that, just a small rather bitter upturning of the corners of his lips, and it tugged at her heart. “She lived a very long time for a human in those days. She died in spring, her favorite season. The cherry trees were in blossom; there were wildflowers everywhere. Jaken and I covered her grave with them.”

She instinctively laid a comforting hand over his and when he did not react left it there. “What happened to the others, our party and yours, Kaede, Miyougi, Kouga and his wolf clan? Did Inuyasha and Kikyou live happily after I wished her back to life with the Shikon No Tama?”

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes a moment lost in thought. “The youkai hunter, the fire cat, and the monk traveled together for some time after that final battle. I would hear from time to time that they had killed some lesser youkai or group of human bandits. The last thing that reached me was that the exterminator appeared to be with child and left the fighting to the monk and the youkai.”

"They probably settled down and raised a family. I’m glad!”

"The old flea is probably still around somewhere, hidden like most youkai these days. I would guess that fire cat still lives as well unless she died at the hands of an enemy of some kind. She was older than me back then and she is a pure blooded youkai as well. I do not know of Kaede or your wolves.”

"Shippou and Rin were great friends until she died. He took a mate and has several children of his own. I kept up with them for centuries but his mate was never entirely comfortable with me. Eventually we lost track of each other. Jaken served me until the day he died. Like Rin before him, he just went to sleep one night and never woke up. I buried him by her side with the staff of heads. I didn't need it…”

"The tears that had threatened before escaped her eyes now. She thought of the silly, annoying little toad and the sweet child with her gap-toothed smile, and the way people just slipped away from you without you knowing. She hadn't even had time to say goodbye. She felt a hand brush the tears away and realized that she was sitting on a bench in the middle of a packed park gripping the hand of a taiyoukai and sobbing in front of everyone. She sputtered out an apology.

Sesshoumaru’s voice was strangely soft and somehow teasing. “Are those tears truly for Jaken, or do you weep for us and past that left us behind?”

She smiled up at him and scrubbed her eyes with her fist. “All three I guess. I didn't mean to make a scene. Oh, you never said what happened to InuYasha and Kikyo.” 

Sesshoumaru looked away from her and was silent for a long time.

"It isn't good is it?”

"It will hurt you, and I don’t want to hurt you anymore than I already have today.”

She bowed her head for a moment then looked back up at him. “Will you tell me another day, please?”

"Hai.”

"Then I’ll wait. Until then, what happened to your stripes and your claws?”

He looked at her seriously for a moment as if judging something. Then he nodded once. “They are still there. Touch my fingertip, carefully.” He held his hand out to her.

She did as he said running her own finger along the back of the hand, up the long slender middle finger to where the nails began. She felt the hard surface narrow under finger and curve downward into sharp talons. She stopped when she reached the sharp point. It looked as if her finger was resting on thin air but she could feel the point and see the dimple it was making in the fleshy pad of her finger. As if hypnotized, she pressed harder against the surface and watched in awe as a drop of blood welled up from the impression. Sesshoumaru jerked his hand away from her and glared at her. She ignored him and put the injured finger in her mouth. 

"You could have triggered the poison gland, girl. Then you would be short a finger if not a whole hand, and I rather doubt yours will grow back.”

She laughed. “I never knew that you were such a worrier, Sesshoumaru-sama.”

His frown faded and he shook his head. “Come idiot, let’s see this fair before you decide to stick your hand in a beehive or go play in traffic.”

She laughed again and reached for his hand without thinking about it. She froze when she realized what she had done, but he just curled his fingers around hers and pulled her to her feet. They walked like old friends through the fair looking at the booths and vendors. He actually seemed to enjoy browsing the goods with her. He also apparently liked to try new foods. He would see something he had never had before like grilled alligator and buy it. He would insist that she share then only take a few bites of it for himself. They rode rides and listened to the bands playing and most of the time he kept her hand firmly ensconced in his. 

Nightfall found them back at the same bench they had shared earlier. Kagome was tired but happier than she had been in a long time. It turned out that this new, gentler Sesshoumaru was wonderful company. He was a good listener, patient, and considerate. He did not grumble when she had to rest or go to the bathroom like her brother and her friends did. The end of the bench was piled with bags. Sesshoumaru seemed to be able to tell when she really liked something and as soon as he realized that she wanted it, she would see him nod at the merchant and there would be a flash of exchanged money and whatever it was that she liked went into one of the pink and white festival bags. She had protested every time and Sesshoumaru had completely ignored her every time. 

Now as she looked over at the stack and back up at him, she sighed. “It’s too much. I didn't come with you to take advantage of your kindness.”

"I have plenty of money, and land, and business holdings, and material goods. Don’t worry about that. What I do not have is someone to spend money on, someone to talk with, someone to spend a day with.”

He looked up at the stars that were slowly appearing above them. “Rin made me weak, soft. She tore down the walls I had built around my feelings with Tennesaiga’s help. The strange thing is that once they were down, I wasn't alone anymore. I was loved and I could love back. Even after she was gone and I was alone again, I couldn't seem to go back to the way I was.”

"I watched as the world changed around me. Other youkai learned to change with it or fought it and died. I stayed where I was but I too had to change. I could not, would not have done that before. I would have faded away like the rest of them."

His tone was distant, melancholy. "I wonder often if it would not have been better that way, but then something happens and I am glad I stayed. I see the wildflowers bloom on Rin’s grave and wonder if she can see them and what she thinks of her Sesshoumaru-sama. I see some incredible new invention or discovery and wonder what human’s will think of next. I sit in a park somewhere and children come up to me without a trace of fear or mistrust just like she did. Those little things sustain me for a few more years.”

His voice grew stronger. “You gave me a gift beyond price today your time, your memories, your trust. That I cannot repay."

She wanted to say something to convince him that it was she that was in his debt, but she could not seem to get any words past the lump in her throat so instead she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He stiffened in her arms for a few moments but then returned her embrace. 

"Here now, am I making you cry again?"

She pulled back to answer when she saw him wince in pain. A few seconds later, a mortar blast sounded across the park. "The fireworks, are you okay?"

"Yes, you would think that I would get used to all the noise in this age." His voice was rueful. 

She settled back down beside him, but leaned against his side. He wrapped a strong arm around her and let her snuggle in closer to him. They watched the pyrotechnic display in silence. It was impressive, but she had seen far more amazing light shows in her travels in the feudal age. She squirmed closer to the youkai lord relishing the warmth of his body since the night had turned cool. He shrugged out of his jacket and tucked it around her.

The warmth and security and the day of walking and emotional revelations caught up to her and she fell asleep in his arms in the midst of exploding fireworks and the 'ooh's and ah's' of the people around her. When she woke up, she was back in his car. She was lying in the seat with his jacket over her and her head resting on his thigh. She blushed and sat up tugging her clothes and hair back into some semblance of order. 

He glanced her way with an amused smile playing at the corners of his lips. "I'm glad you decided to wake up. We're back where we collided earlier. I have no idea where you live."

She gave him directions and guided him back to the shrine. He helped her out of the car pulling his jacket more securely around her. Then he gathered her packages and walked her up to the shrine. He stared around the place curiously.

"Would you like to see the well, or the God Tree where InuYasha was pinned?"

"Those are here?"

"Hai, let me put these inside real quick and I'll show you." 

She was back in just a few minutes and led the youkai to the well house. He stared into its depths curiously then jumped in. She had become so used to him looking human over the course of the evening that she actually gasped when he levitated up out of the well. She covered the surprise by telling him about the first time that she had been drawn through the well. 

"It is probably a good thing that it is closed now. Knowing how things turned out, there would be a terrible temptation to go back and try to change the past to alter the present."

Kagome sighed, "I used to wonder if the things I was doing were somehow changing the present, and if it did would I even know. It bothered me some of the time, but the others didn't seem to understand what I was talking about."

She led him to the God Tree and was surprised when he placed his hand exactly over the spot where Kikyo's arrow had pierced InuYasha's heart. He stepped away abruptly and stared up at the starry panorama overhead. She touched his arm questioningly and looked down at her. His eyes were so sad that she could not help wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. Once again, he held her in return.

"You're parents will worry if you are out here with a strange man too long."

She explained that her mother was out of town for the rest of the week visiting a sick aunt and her grandfather had gone with her. Souta was staying at a friend’s house while they were gone so she was alone. She had just decided on a lark to go to the festival by herself. 

He hesitated a moment then invited her to have lunch with him the next day. "I will think tonight on how to tell InuYasha's story."

She smiled happily at him. "Thank you, Sesshoumaru."

He bade her goodnight and walked back to his car. She watched him go noting that he still had the same purposeful way of walking that she remembered. He was out of sight when she realized that she was still wearing his jacket. She pulled the collar up and breathed deeply inhaling his scent. With one last look at the rising moon, she headed inside.


	2. Lunch Date and InuYasha's Fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a few more words you might need to know
> 
> hanyou is a being who is half youkai half human  
> taisama is a term of great respect similar to great lord or your highness
> 
> Tessaiga (Iron Crushing Sword) is the sword InuYasha's father left to him to teach him to control and intergrate his youkai and human selves. It was crafted from his fang and had the power to absorb skills from those it defeated growing steadily more powerful. 
> 
> Teneseiga (Heavenly Rebirth Sword) is the sword he left to Sesshoumaru to teach him compassion. It had the power to bring back the dead, protect its owner from a killing blow, allow the wielder to move safely in the realm of the dead, and eventually to send a large chunk of reality straight to Hell. It was crafted from their father's other fang. 
> 
> Bakusaiga (Explosive Crushing Sword) When Sesshoumaru finally learned to care for others more than himself and allowed Tessaiga to absorb Teneseiga so that InuYasha could defeat Naraku once and for all his missing arm grew back and in it was a sword generated from the pure power and spirit of Sesshoumaru himself. It creates a massively powerful, explosive attack that not only damages the target, but sends powerful waves of force to do continuous damage to everything surrounding the target. 
> 
> Yaoi is a category of fiction involving male/male relationships, this story is not yaoi surprisingly enough
> 
> Hentai is a pervert as a noun perverted as an adjective

He picked her up promptly at noon and took them to a wonderful little restaurant that specialized in American cuisine. The waiter seemed to recognize him immediately and rattled off a list of new items on the menu. Sesshoumaru merely nodded at him. Kagome was a little confused when the man smiled broadly and turned to ask her what she would like. She hesitated then ordered. The waiter bustled off still smiling happily.

"I take it you come here a lot."

"Yes, the menu changes all the time."

"You like trying different foods all the time, but you don't eat much."

"The older I get, the less I need to eat at all. I used to scorn human food, but somewhere down the line I decided to try it. It amuses me to experience the different tastes and textures."

"You'll have to let me cook for you." She felt her cheeks heat. Where had that come from?

"I would like that, Kagome."

She smiled up at him as the waiter brought their drinks and a huge tray of mixed appetizers. She couldn't help laughing as he gestured for her to help herself. "If I hang around you to much, I'll get too fat to move."

"Then I'll just have to carry you."

She laughed and looked into his eyes. They sparkled with amusement. She wondered why she had never noticed them before in the past.

Only when the waiter brought out plate after plate of food did Sesshoumaru grow serious. "I promised to tell you InuYasha's story, but not here. After I take you home, I will tell you everything." He gazed out the window at the passing people, but she could tell that his attention was far away focused on the past. 

When they returned to her house, he sat on the couch and gestured for her to sit down beside him. Without preamble he began the story she had been waiting and dreading to hear.

"You brought the miko back to life, but no one could have foreseen what she would become." 

His voice became cold, unemotional as he described how she had disappeared before their very eyes along with the Shikon No Tama after making her wish. Kikyo had then been bathed in a soft pink light. When it subsided, she was alive again. Every trace of grave scent was gone from her. InuYasha had gathered her into his arms and carried her away presumably back to his forest or her village. Sesshoumaru had not followed. Any hatred he had still harbored for InuYasha had been burned away when the hanyou had taken the full force of Naraku's attack to keep it from striking a terrified Rin and Shippou. He had let his brother go and never expected to hear from him again. Then the rumors began to reach him.

Youkai and even humans began to come to him telling him of an evil force that was moving through the western lands claiming territory and destroying all youkai and humans that resisted it. He had dismissed the first couple of reports as exaggerations, but then as they increased in number and graphic detail, he felt obliged to defend his lands. He sent out runners to locate and identify the evil force. The few that returned spoke of a black miko with incredible power.

Sesshoumaru had his suspicions then, but he did not want to believe them until he had proof. He followed the bloody trail of the miko and finally came upon her. It was Kikyo as he feared. InuYasha was with her. He took no part in the massacres and appeared to be trying to stop her, but she refused to listen and he would not leave her.

The youkai lord had ordered her to leave the western lands instead of just killing her immediately. She told him coldly that she planned on taking the western lands and from there the rest of the world. She was going to destroy every youkai she found and any humans tainted by them. She was obviously mad. 

He told InuYasha to take his woman and leave then, before he lost his temper. He was not really sure why, but he gave her a chance. Instead of taking it, she turned on him and attacked. To his credit, InuYasha tried to stop her, but she used the beads around his neck to control him. Sesshoumaru held back until it became apparent that there was no other way. He had swung his Bakusaiga sending the full force of the blade straight at her. To his surprise, InuYasha leaped in front of her at the last moment. He tried to pull the blow but it was too late. The powerful energy of the blade sliced through both of them. 

He had rushed to InuYasha's side and tried to use Teneseiga to revive him, but the hanyou had reached up and caught his hand before he could cut all the imps trying to drag him to Hell. 'No, I belong with Kikyo. It's my fault she's this way. I should have gone to Hell with her the first time. I'll correct my mistake this time. Thank you for giving her a chance, brother.' Then he just stopped breathing. Sesshoumaru had sat there in the clearing for a long time still gripping the lifeless hand and looking down into the dull eyes that had been so much like his own. 

"I realized then, too late to do anything about it, all the things I might have said or done to make things right between us. I recalled all the chances that I threw away over the years. I think that was the first time I ever felt shame. I burned his body and Tessaiga with him. I prayed for father to guide him to a peaceful rest and forgive me for taking so long to understand what he had tried to teach me with his healing fang."

"Her body I left to the scavengers and lesser youkai. I did not think she deserved any measure of honor or compassion. Even now, I feel only anger toward her." 

He stopped and looked over at Kagome, just in time to catch her as she collapsed into broken-hearted sobs. He held her tightly as she clung to his shirt crying hysterically against his chest. She was vaguely aware of his presence, his comforting arms as guilt and pain threatened to tear her heart apart. Finally, her swollen eyes could not produce any more tears and her raw throat refused to let more than the occasional whimper past. She did not move afraid that without the strong arms holding her she would just fly apart.

"Kagome?" Sesshoumaru's voice slipped past the pounding in her head. "I am sorry. I did not want to hurt you this way."

"My fault." Her voice was a cracked whisper that barely reached his superlative ears.

"What?"

"My fault, it's all my fault." Her voice was a little stronger though it rasped painfully. "The people she killed, the youkai, InuYasha, you being forced to kill your own brother, Kikyo's madness...it's all my fault."

"No!" His voice was tight with suppressed emotion, almost a growl. 

She looked up startled. His eyes were red and his stripes were visible all darkened and jagged looking. She thought vaguely that she should be frightened, but she just looked at him through stinging eyes.

His eyes returned to their normal gold, but the stripes remained and his voice when it came was strong, certain. "It was not your fault. Your wish was pure, unselfish. You gave her and InuYasha a second chance. Her corruption began while she was alive, it began with Naraku. When she was resurrected she allowed him to further corrupt her."

He cupped her cheek in one hand and drew her against him with the other until she was cradled like a child in his arms. He never let her look away from his eyes as he spoke. "What was left of the person she was fought Naraku and even came to our aid, but you know yourself from what he did to the Shikon No Tama, what he did to Kohaku and everything else he touched that Naraku's darkness was like a modern day cancer. It infected every healthy, pure thing that it touched and grew silently, secretly until there was no hope of redemption for the victim."

"None of this was your fault any more than it was InuYasha's or mine. I am certain that it would have happened the same way whether she was alive or dead. I will not allow you to hate yourself for something that you could not have prevented."

She laughed even though it hurt her throat even more. "You sounded like the old Sesshoumaru there, you will not ALLOW me to hate. How can you stop me?"

His eyes narrowed but remained golden instead of red. His voice dropped into that low dangerous taunt that he had used so often with InuYasha. He brought his face down to with inches of hers. "This Sesshoumaru has ways of stopping you, Human."

She laughed again until it turned into a cough. When she caught her breath, she replied in her best imitation of Jaken at his sniveling best. "Ha, Taisama. This lowly human bows before your greater might and wisdom. Have mercy on this your humble servant."

"That's better." Sesshoumaru drew back and smiled sadly at her. "Where is your room?"

"What?"

"Your room."

She gave him directions and then cried out as he stood effortlessly with her in his arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he carried her to her own room and laid her carefully on her bed. He disappeared into her bathroom and returned with a warm washcloth and some aspirin. She took both gratefully.

"I'll get you some tea to take those with. Lie still."

"You won't leave?" She was not sure what prompted her to ask that, but she heard the pleading note in her voice and winced.

"I won't leave." 

"I'm glad." She relaxed and closed her eyes. 

He returned a short time later with hot tea and an antihistamine from her mom's first aid kit. She sat up and took the pills gratefully. Her hands were trembling so bad that he had to hold the teacup for her. She reached out and touched his shirt. It was soaked with her tears. "It's ruined."

"I've broken your heart, told you of the sad fate of your one true love, and you're worried about my shirt." That teasing tone was back in his voice.

She smiled sadly. "My heart is sore, but I don't think it's broken, at least not completely broken. I made myself start letting go of InuYasha back in the feudal days. I had already decided what my wish would be, that his happiness meant more to me than my own. I spent the first five years back in this time getting over him. The last three years, I've been making a life for myself. I've taken over the duty of keeping up the family shrine so that mama and grandpa can travel and do things they've always wanted to do. I finished school and graduated from college. I majored in history. I give special classes here at the shrine to advanced students during the fall and spring terms. All my friends in the feudal era, and my enemies too, taught me to be strong, to survive and go on even when there doesn't seem to be much hope. If I let this knowledge destroy me, I would be betraying their memories and myself. I'll be alright, Sesshoumaru."

She looked up into his eyes and was shocked to see the silvery trail of tears on his pale cheeks. He was still kneeling in front of her, he still held the cup securely in his hands, but he seemed frozen. She reached up and wiped the tears away with both hands. Something inside of her was profoundly disturbed.

"Sesshoumaru?"

"Forgive me, Kagome. I should go; I should not have come here and opened old wounds so carelessly. I should have left you your memories untarnished."

"No, please don't go!" She flung herself at him catching him off guard. For the second time in as many days, they tumbled to the ground together. 

Incredibly, the youkai managed to hold on to the cup as he fell flat on his back keeping it from spilling. He set it on the floor beside them. When he spoke, his voice was more amused than annoyed. "This is getting to be a habit."

Kagome blushed violently. She was sitting astride the Lord of the Western Lands' stomach with her arms wrapped around his neck and her face buried in his chest. 

"Not that I object to pretty, young women throwing me to the ground on a regular basis." He laughed. 

She felt her blush deepen as she realized that her chest was pressed so tightly against his that she could feel the vibration of his laughter. She couldn't seem to gather her thoughts enough to get up off of him and he did not seem to be in any hurry to get up himself. She finally managed to raise her head up enough to look at him. 

"Please don't walk out of my life. You're all I have left of my past, the only one who could ever understand. I need you, Sesshoumaru-sama."

"So formal all of the sudden from someone who has spent most of two days in my arms and is, even now, sitting on top of me?" 

She started to get up, but he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her in place. He looked into her red rimmed eyes as if searching for something there. She tried her best to project the truth at him, to show him how much his presence had already come to mean to her. How she had been living an empty shell of a life for years feeling like she had left the best part of herself back there in the past. She felt his chest rise and fall as he sighed, then he stood up lifting her as if she weighed nothing. 

She didn't let go even when her feet were firmly on the floor. "Will you stay?"

"Here? In your room?"

"In my life, you're trying to get me flustered so I'll change the subject."

"You are far too clever for your own good."

"It won't work. I'm not going to let you go until you say you'll be my friend and stay near me."

"Your friend?"

"Hai, my friend."

"I'm not very good at that kind of thing."

"You've done a good job of faking it for the last couple of days then."

"Hmm."

"Running out of arguments?"

"Never."

"Will you stay."

"Yes."

She let him go and smiled up at him. "I meant what I said before. I am stronger than I look."

"I believe you, Kagome. Now rest. I'll be right here."

She watched as he settled down at her desk and picked up a book. She watched the way the way the light from her window seemed to make him glow until the medicine dragged her into a restless slumber. Every time the nightmares threatened her peace, they were chased away by a cool cloth on her forehead and murmured reassurances near her ear. When she woke, the late evening sun was slanting into the room casting the corners into shadow. She had to squint to see Sesshoumaru in the failing light. 

He had moved the chair to the foot of her bed. He was just finishing the novel she had left on her desk. She felt herself blush as she realized that it was the latest "Mirage of Blaze" and full of implied yaoi. He would probably think that she was a terrible pervert now. She saw his glowing eyes look up at her over the cover.

"Er, umm, about that novel..."

"Have you read the others?"

"Well, um, yes..."

"It's about time that idiot figured out that Naoe has always loved him. Still no action though."

She found herself speechless and had the sneaking suspicion that he was smirking at her behind the book. 

"You, you've read them all?"

He laughed out loud. "I've read a lot of things, many of them far more graphic than this." 

He laid the book aside and moved to sit beside her on the edge of the bed. "Hmm, I am a little shocked at this. The pure and innocent miko, the maiden of the shrine, the ever so holy keeper of the Shikon No Tama is reading pornographic novels, throwing herself at helpless men, and keeping a man in her room while her parents are away. Could it be that you have a dirty mind in that pretty little head?"

"Sesshoumaru!" She was outraged. "I am not some kind of hentai! How dare you imply that I...I..." She stuttered to a stop and glared at him. He was teasing her. That glint in his eye could mean nothing else.

She frowned. "Very funny. I'm not amused."

"Oh?" He raised a brow at her. "No sense of humor. How sad in such a young lady."

"I have a sense of humor. I'll laugh when it's funny."

"And so cruel... absolutely tragic."

"Keh!"

"Did you know you sound like InuYasha when you do that?"

She blushed. "I guess I kind of picked up the expression from him."

"Ah. Father used to do that too."

"He never told me much about your father or about his family life."

"Father died the day he was born. He sacrificed himself for InuYasha and his mother. He never knew his youkai family and his human family rejected both him and his mother."

Sesshoumaru grew serious. He looked down into her eyes. "We're friends now I think I will tell you of our family in time if you wish it. It is not a story for inspiring sweet dreams, but I have already shared the greatest tragedy with you."

He looked so sad that she reached up and laid her hand on his cheek. "Sesshoumaru?"

He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "I will go now." He raised his hand as she started to protest. "I will leave you my phone number, call me if you need me. Even if you do not, I will come visit again tomorrow."

She nodded and on impulse stood and hugged him tightly. He returned the embrace then pushed her gently back down onto the bed. "I will lock the door as I go, Kagome. Sleep well."

She smiled and watched him all the way out of sight. She sighed and snuggled down into her pillow.


	3. Absence and Fondness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter but one that shows the evolution of acquaintance to friend to someone you ache for when they are away.

By the end of the first two months, Kagome could not remember what life was like before Sesshoumaru. He was always there when she was down and depressed. He was still very proper and regal. He never came over without calling first. He never let her or her mom open a door or pull out a chair or lift anything. He was polite and soft spoken. She could have said that he was unlike the heartless, cold creature that he had once been, but she knew that he was not. She was seeing the Sesshoumaru that Rin had found hidden under the hurt and the scars of childhood. The temple was doing better financially too. She never caught the youkai at it, but her mother and grandfather would find huge donations shoved anonymously into the offering boxes. 

He took her to restaurants and movies, plays and concerts on a regular basis. Her friends had seen them together and would close in on her from time to time demanding to know who the handsome, obviously rich, man was and what he meant to her. She would just smile mysteriously and say a friend. That left them unsatisfied, but they would give up eventually and wish her well with her "friend."

He would go away from time to time on business trips. They usually lasted a week or more. She found herself feeling alone and rather lost when he was gone, even though he always left his cellphone number and usually called her every other day to check up on her. The calls were short at first but gradually became longer as he would listen to her recount every detail of her day. He was the kind of listener people dreamed of, silent, thoughtful, asking just enough questions to show that he was genuinely interested and never forgetting even the smallest detail of earlier conversations. He would end the call only when her words were punctuated with yawns. She knew the phone bills must be awful, but he never mentioned them at all. 

She rushed into the house when she heard the phone ring, excusing herself to her grandfather as she pounded up the stairs and grabbed the phone in her room. Sesshoumaru had been gone three weeks this time to America. As soon as his low, smooth voice came on the line she flung herself down on her bed.

When he remarked that he was catching a plane home the next morning she could help yelping with delight. She apologized profusely when she heard him drop the receiver. "I keep forgetting how sensitive your ears are."

“ Perhaps I should call you more frequently until I lose my hearing entirely? If I were deaf I would not have to worry about protecting them.”

“ Ha, ha, very funny,” she smiled into the receiver. “I’m glad you’re coming home.”

“ Why is that?”

“ I missed you,” she replied honestly.

“ Then I shall forgo the plane and fly home tonight. It is tiresome though, avoiding the radar and sonar and all the garbage that litters the skies these days.”

“ You would do that for me?” She found herself blinking back tears. It was so strange to think of the ancient taiyoukai lord inconveniencing himself for her sake. How long had it been since anyone had been so kind to her.

“It is a small thing, Kagome. I will see you soon.”

There was a click on the other end, he never said ‘goodbye.’ She rolled over in the narrow bed and looked up at the ceiling thinking of him and his low, silky voice.


End file.
